A few years back, JHS came to the table with the Muffuletta—a svelt black box containing the circuits of six different muffs that quickly earned a spot as one of the most popular fuzz pedals on Reverb. Now, after three years of development, Josh Scott and team are back with the Bonsai, which applies this same combinatorial approach to the Tube Screamer in its many forms.

As you can see in the video above, the Bonsai offers circuits for nine different Tube Screamer and Tube Screamer-esque pedals. Modes include recreations of several classic Ibanez pedals including vintage TS-808 and TS-9 variations, a few related overdrives, such as the Boss OD-1, and even two modern mod circuits.

As Josh describes, this pedal doesn't set out to offer every conceivable Tube Screamer tone but is more a "case study" in the classic design. There are certainly Tube Screamer variations not included here, but as Josh explained, this was really more about offering his choices for the best tones of the batch.

With vintage pedals, for instance, "component drift" means that different examples from within the same make and model can carry drastically different sounds. As such, the Bonsai hones in on specific pedals from the JHS collection deemed the best in class and most worthy of replication.

The Replicated Tube Screamers

Boss OD-1

Ca. 1977

Ibanez TS-808

Ca. 1979

Ibanez TS-9

Ca. 1982

Ibanez Metal Screamer

Ca. 1985

Ibanez TS-10

Ca. 1986

Exar OD-1

Ca. 1989

Ibanez TS7

Ca. 1999

Keeley Mod Plus for TS808

Ca. 2002

JHS Strong Mod for TS9

Ca. 2009

While Josh was in the Reverb studio, we also took some to talk about the tonal archaeology behind the creation of the Bonsai. Watch the bonus video below for some insight into how this pedal came together, and a discussion of some of the prevailing myths that surround the historic and circuitry of the legendary pedal.